Biscúter
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Biscúter ( Spanish spelling for the pronunciation of BiScooter) is a microcar manufactured in Spain, by Auto Nacional, SA, from 1953 until 1960, total of all versions around 10,000 units.BISCUTER (1953 - 1960)
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Background

Raw material shortages and general economic difficulties in Europe following the Second World War made very small, economical cars popular in many countries. In Spain, following the Spanish Civil War and the embargo declared by the United Nations against General
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
's dictatorship, the situation was even worse. The combination of relative underdevelopment, war devastation and an international trade embargo meant that the country operated at a much lower economic level than the rest of Western Europe for nearly two decades and was forced to develop domestic substitutes for hard-to-get imported products and technologies. The Biscúter, tiny, simple, and cheap even by microcar standards, was a product of this economic environment and was well suited to its time and market.


Origins

The car had its origins in France in the late 1940s, where aircraft and car designer and manufacturer Gabriel Voisin had designed a minimal car called the Biscooter for
Avions Voisin Avions Voisin was a French luxury automobile brand established by Gabriel Voisin in 1919 which traded until 1939. History Gabriel B. Voisin was an aviation pioneer and manufacturer who in 1919 started producing cars using Knight-type sl ...
. The playful name implied that it was about the size of two motorscooters, or a scooter with four wheels. The design drew no interest from either manufacturers or consumers there, however, and he eventually licensed it to Spanish firm Autonacional S.A. of Barcelona. By the time it was introduced in 1953, the marque had been hispanicized to Biscúter. The first car had no formal model name and was called simply the Series 100, but it soon became known as the ''Zapatilla'', or little shoe (
clog Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Used in many parts of the world, their forms can vary by culture, but often remained unchanged for centuries within a culture. Traditional clogs remain in use as protective f ...
), after a low-heeled peasant slipper popular at the time.


Technical information

The Zapatilla was minimal indeed, with no doors or windows or reverse gear. The 1 cylinder, 197 cc, two-stroke motor produced 9 horsepower (7 kW), had a crank starter, and drove only the right front wheel. It had a large, oil-filled cylinder head, to compensate overheating during traffic light arrests, and avoid overcooling while on road at higher speeds, producing a: 'Temperature Buffer' effect. Braking was by an unusual three-point system involving the transmission and cable ties to the two rear wheels. One genuinely advanced feature was an all- aluminum body, although steel was later used.


History

Biscúter flourished for about ten years and the cars became a common sight on Spanish roads, as well as a part of popular culture. ("Ugly as a Biscúter" was a common joke.) Amenities such as doors and windows did eventually appear, and several different bodystyles were produced, including trucks, an elegant woodie
station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...
, and a toy-like sports car called the Pegasín (little
Pegaso Pegaso (, "Pegasus") was a Spanish manufacturer of trucks, buses, tractors, armored vehicles, and, for a while, to train apprentices, and have a good brand image, some sports cars. The parent company, Enasa, was created in 1946 and based in the ...
). In 1950 the Spanish auto maker
SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...
was set up as the country's national car manufacturer, but at first even the most inexpensive of its designs were considered luxury cars, out of reach of the average Spanish consumer. As time went on and a greater degree of prosperity developed, though, SEATs began to take more of the market and crowd out the cheaper marques. In 1957 the company attempted to produce a sports car, the
Biscuter Pegasin The Biscúter Pegasín (or 200-F) was a microcar from Autonacional. It was revealed in 1957 in an attempt to attract the wealthier buyers. It was more upscale than the very basic Biscúter and it had two-colour plastic body, hard- and soft-top. T ...
in an attempt to attract the wealthier buyers. The styling was similar to the Pegaso Z-102, but it didn't help much. By the early 60s, Biscúter sales and production stopped, after a total production run of about 12,000. It is thought that almost all of the cars were eventually scrapped.


Today

Now Biscúters are mostly museum curiosities, although like many vanished marques they have some following among auto enthusiasts. The name is little known outside Spain, however, and most materials pertaining to it are in Spanish.


References


External links

The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum was a museum in Madison, Georgia, United States, that held a large collection of microcars. The museum was created by Bruce Weiner, an executive of Dubble Bubble, who collected microcars as a hobby A hobby ...
in Georgia has probably the best Biscúter collection in the United States:
A Zapatilla
A history of the marque in Spanish, with some interesting photos:


Vintage Spanish Ads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biscuter Microcars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Spain Companies based in Barcelona Cars introduced in 1953